Dewanatron’s Brian and Leon were on-hand with their unique inventions. Photos by Marsha Vdovin for CDM.

For the lover of musical instruments and technology, southern California’s NAMM show is a giant toy shop. It’s work for many of its attendees, of course, but we know many of our readers dream of the objects that will make their next creations. And sure, inspiring lust is not our aim; on the contrary, there is some love that goes into these things. In the ideal, that’s the relationship of creator and consumer. These are things not to be bought and discarded, but kept and really used.

So, we have a different look at the NAMM show, through the lens of CDM contributor Marsha Vdovin, who has been at this show more times than she might like to count. I’ve added some comments about what these devices are and why they’re important. And the next time we see them, these inventions pictured in silence here, we expect them to be working hard on music far from the din and flourescent glare of the trade show floor.

Roland’s V-Guitar marks a surprising collaboration, bringing the famed American guitar maker Fender together with the Japanese electronic maker to make an “electronic guitar,” merging the two company’s tech on a digitally-augmented Stratocaster. More on this soon – but the extended playing techniques won over many guitarists.

The Danish design aesthetes of AIAIAI have improved upon their TMA-1 headphones with a studio model. Same drivers, same basic design, but a “flatter” response to sound (rather than beefed-up, DJ-ready bass) and closed ear design. It’s impossible to hear anything at NAMM, but I can attest that the new design is far, far more comfy to wear. Actually, if I could have kept these on the whole show to drown out the sound, it would have been great.

An easy place to spot a talented celebrity was at the Dave Smith Instruments booth, at which artists clustered around Dave and Roger Linn. They were on-hand with plenty of tweaks to their stellar Tempest drum machine.

Teenage Engineering’s OP-1 grew up, with new features (drum sounds! MIDI sync – at last), and grew out, with a companion product for connecting sensors and USB host mode that could be a boutique item for music DIYers. We’ll go hands-on with each this year, and while readers were disappointed on a lack of some details (will the OpLab be open source?), we expect to get more details from the Teenagers when the product is ready in the coming months.

Readers of tech blogs (ahem) may miss out on the fact that the vast majority of NAMM is really for guitarists, drummers, and traditional instrumentalists. And yes, that includes glittery, pink products from Daisy Rock Guitars. We’ve concluded this model will be perfect for Sparkle Pony. (And really, if you’re not watching Portlandia to get that reference, get on it. Also, Jenny Conlee is crazy awesome.)

Thin, responsive, and expressive, the QuNeo from Keith McMillen – funded on Kickstarter – proves it’s really happening. With continuous pressure response on its touch controls and bi-directional control, it could be the most anyone will ever have gotten from a US$200 controller. Yes, we’ll be watching.

Pioneer wasn’t showing anything new at this show — they timed those launches over the fall with new controllers like the Ergo. But they did have a glossly all-white lacquer set of limited-edition devices that looked absurdly gorgeous. Now if I want to do my flat over in the style of a Stanley Kubrick set, I know what DJ gear I’ll be buying. (If you don’t know what I mean, watch the end of 2001 again – or the living room in Tron: Legacy, which is more or less a copy.) White is the new generic-dull-charcoal.

Akai’s MPC Renaissance is unlike any other mass-market controller we’ve seen. It’s actually substantial, something that feels like a vintage MPC even though it’s designed to work with software (pictured). The audio circuitry is straight out of the modern MPC, but there’s a switch for “vintage” modes – think 12-bit output when the MPC60 is enabled, for instance. Akai told CDM they built the software in-house, but we also learned at NAMM that they licensed time-stretch tech from iZotope, giving their upcoming MPC software generous audio-manipulation abilities.

The Renaissance will cost you, with a street expected well over a grand, but that makes it even more welcome that the same superb pads and response curves are also on the maker’s MAX49 keyboard and cheaper MPC Model.

Just expect to wait: these were prototypes, and there were still some bugs to work out.

The Renaissance is for the MPC die-hard; the MPC Studio is the model that will directly take on Native Instruments and Maschine. It’s slim, sleek, and still has great-feeling controls. And while that makes it compelling competition for Maschine, I’m gratified to see this whole market expanding, new workflows for performance and production, and a push to better quality in the controllers. The days when computer gear meant “cheap and plastic-y” are mercifully at an end. Speaking of which –

Akai’s MAX49 keyboard could be a new model to beat. The keyboard action is satisfyingly springy, with a new keybed not seen in previous models. The pads are identical to those on the Renaissance, and feel more the way proper MPC pads should. Not everyone will love the light-up, touch-sensitive resistive faders, but I found with a bit of pressure, they worked well – and that means never having to worry about a fader catching up with the value in software. You also get serious features: Control Voltage, a full complement of MIDI ports, and aftertouch. Did I mention Control Voltage? It’s nice to see a controller keyboard with a slightly premium price, build, and features.

The last surprise from Akai was this MPC DJ. The company says it’s a prototype only, and had little more to say about it, but it’s fascinating to see the MPC and turntable controls converge.

Moog’s Minitaur was my favorite synth of the show. It just sounds consistently brilliant, no matter which way you turn it or play it – and I accordingly noticed it was the synth the most people were actually playing on the show floor.

This is what a 24-karet KORG MonoTribe looks like, alongside a silver-plated model. There’s little more one can say. It is, of course, one of a kind — and already spoken for.

The other thing of beauty at the KORG booth: a limited-edition reverse-key SV-1 keyboard.

iOS accessories were numerous, but a few were genuinely useful. IK Multimedia’s iRig Mic “Cast,” for instance, is coupled with handy software for podcasters, as a quick tool for interviewing or podcast recording.

It’s not a new product, but one of the reviews to which I’m most looking forward is this Eers product. It promises custom in-ears you make yourself, rather than the enormous cost of getting them custom-made. Stay tuned on this one – protecting your hearing and making on-stage gigs go well is perhaps as essential as gear can get.

The just-intonation Hymnatron from the Dewanatron crew was one of the most compositionally-compelling instruments at the show, with a unique sound, tuning, and key layout. And it looks mighty handsome in this one-off wooden case.

LiveWire’s modular was among the many dreamy modular rigs at Big City Music and Analog Haven, two Los Angeles hotspots for analog modulars. Did we mention space was more plentiful and inexpensive, and gigs more generous, in LA than in NYC, Chicago, or San Francisco? Funny coincidence, that.

Many modules graced this show, but the most intriguing was not analog, but digital – think digital algorithms in an analog, patch-cord-modular hardware workflow. Tom Erbe, maker of long-beloved SoundHack (the app, and then more recently the plug-ins) put some of his sonic wizardry into a module, collaborating with one of our favorite modular builders, MakeNoise. The result: the MakeNoise Echofon. As such, it’s a perfect emblem of our Create Digital Music, Create Analog Music philosophy. Dear Berlin friends: let’s plug this into your monster modulars, okay?

Big City Music is a wonderful place. The other candidate for best new module: brilliant creations by Metasonix, as previewed here. We’ll be watching for these to be patch-able, too.

Casio had its classic CZ-1000 synth on-hand at its booth. The Casio XW isn’t quite a successor to the CZ, though it does include some of those waveforms and phase distortion sounds. What it does appear to be is a very affordable, do-just-about-everything workstation at a fraction of the price of any of its rivals. For someone who wants a jack-of-all-trades gigging keyboard, this could very much be a contender.

Our friends at Beatport are evidently getting into the hardware business. The most interesting launch wasn’t a set of TMA headphones with Slimer-green cords (I’ll take the Studio model, thanks, or just a non-Danish set of studio cans). Instead, I was intrigued by the eminently-practical line of gigging cords Beatport is working on with Hosa. They include features live digital musicians and DJs badly need, like color-coded cords you can find easily at a show, and hinged USB cords you can cram into tight spaces. More on those soon.

Thanks, all. Lastly, I want to thank everyone I got to spend time with at the NAMM show, and particularly Marsha Vdovin, who is responsible for these photos and keeping our schedule together. NAMM is always too crowded and too short, but it can lay groundwork for a whole year. And I’m excited for this Year of the Dragon. Be seeing you.

too bad the pictures were hacked up crops of the full instruments/gear with so much out of focus

Osc

So, let's see your fabulous photos.

peterkirn

Funny, that's usually the way the gear looks while I'm using it, too.

http://soundcloud.com/cillianjohn Cillianjohn

I think Mussorgsky himself would have loved these pictures.

Mike

It just looks like it could have been NAMM from any of the last 10 years. Nothing really interesting at all.

KNS

Where is the Nektar Panorama? I notice this site doesn't cover much when it comes to Reason.

peterkirn

Actually, had a long talk with the Nektar's creator! Will definitely be seeing more of this in a coming article. It was not in this gallery for one reason only – I took the photos, not Marsha, and they didn't look very good. But stay tuned!

I'm using a lot of Reason these days, so you can bet you'll be seeing it…

http://ginacollecchia.com/ Gina

Gorgeous photos! I only had a Sunday pass, but caught a lot on this list. Wish I had messed around with the Minitaur and Tempest. Stevie Wonder was downright distracting.

Marsha Vdovin

The Dewanatron was actually in the Moog Foundation booth.

Michelle Moog-Koussa approached the Dewan cousins about building the Moog Foundation an educational synth, and so they did… the Dewanatron Novitiate. It's a one-oscillator analog synthesizer with an interface designed to show the progression of sound between synthesizer components. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2yUz8S8su0&nbsp;

paradiddle

the akai max49 certainly looks interesting. Seems like a good controller for live use.

Joe

pics are good, nevermind that first dude

http://www.whitenoiseaudio.com/ David Wallin

I thought the pictures were great.

http://ippomed.com/unity/ Ippokratis

Hi,
Applying bokeh on musical gear photos is an excellent choice IMHO, despite the difficult theme, it managed to give a distinct and pleasant aesthetic impression where applied. Actually, all photos are great. I am not a photography critique, I just like them very much.

Marsha Vdovin

Thank you, that is very kind.

JonYo

I don’t get what Roland is talking about calling their V-Guitar “new”. Isn’t it just a Fender Strat with a GK2A pickup built in? I’ve had one for years, it’s my main electric guitar. It was referred to as a their “Roland-Ready” model when I got it over 12 years ago.

telesio

Hi everybody,

any info about the new Mode Machines products? Expecially the Bbq Baby sequencer?

loopstationzebra

Appalling that the Teenage Engineering *minor update* is included in this list. Have you no shame for the continuous shilling you do for these guys? lol.

mike

I think it is more indicative of the music technology's lack of innovation rather than any specific fan boyism on Peter's behalf. The truth is that there was nothing exciting or interesting at NAMM. The hardware companies just seem to going down the road of "slap and ipad on it" or else rehashing old ideas in cheaper and smaller forms (Native Maschine, Akai, Korg…)

The real action in creativity and innovation is going on at the blog http://www.creativeapplications.net, would be great if peter did the same for music software and finally made the decision if the blog is a platform for the usual suspects to pedal there latest and greatest rehashes or if it is something dedicated to innovative and interesting things at the intersection between music, technology and art. Thats a decision for him to make, but at the moment it is all just getting a little bit stale. In other words come off the fence and call it as it is…

Brian stevens

Sorry to say, but half of the stuff at creative applications will never exist in the real world of musicians who need gear to make music. Why exclude one's work (Peter's) for the benefit of another ? Nonetheless creative applications is an excellent research platform.

peterkirn

I'm a big fan of CAN; I don't see those as entirely related topic areas. CDM covers the industry, and it also covers DIY, and sometimes it covers music and visual issues that go beyond tech, let alone "apps," and that's what I've done since 2004.

These pictures we chose because they were shiny and sparkly, as part of our more-serious and substantial coverage of what struck us at the show. Life goes on; it's why it's a daily site.

Kim

I cant help but be excited about that Casio keyboard even though everyone was hoping for a resurrection….it still looks like somewhat of a monster at a small price.

http://www.RainComputers.com Kevin Jacoby

At the risk of pointing out a NAMM announcement that's partially self-serving, I think it's worth pointing out that, for the first time in… well, forever, MOTU is releasing Digital Performer 8 for Windows. Aside from this being awesome for those of us doing pro audio in Windows, it also speaks volumes about the state of the industry. Pretty slick.